This invention relates to a system for alternately filling two different types of drywall mud or wall board joint compound applicator devices in a single system set up and a diverter valve for the system which is adapted to handle drywall mud in a viscous, semi-liquid state ready for application to seams and to taped seams between adjacently disposed drywall panels.
Systems for delivering moist, flowable joint compound under pressure from an open top container to a single type of joint compound applicator device have long been known and used in the prior art. One such prior art system includes a manually operable hand pump having a lower body portion disposed in a container of viscous, semi-liquid joint compound and a tube known as a gooseneck having an upper inlet end connected directly to a discharge port on an upper body portion of the pump. A lower end portion of the tube rests on a floor and has an upwardly opening outlet end into which a charging port of a conventional bazooka type of drywall applicator device can be inserted for filling preparatory to using the bazooka to fill a seam between adjacently disposed drywall panels with drywall mud followed by applying a tape strip along and over the seam.
To operate the prior art system, a pump handle of the pump is manually operated to pump drywall mud from the container directly through the gooseneck and, thence, into a lower end of the bazooka. The filled bazooka is then removed from the outlet end of the gooseneck and is used to fill and tape the seams between adjacent drywall panels until the drywall mud containing barrel of the bazooka is empty, or nearly so, at which point it must be recharged. After recharging the bazooka and continuing on with the filling and taping of seams, it is desirable to charge or fill other types of drywall mud applicator devices such as flat boxes, for use in applying successive layers of mud to flat seams that have already been filled and taped with the bazooka in order to conceal the tape and level or even out the seam so as to effectively hide it from view on the finished wall. Also, after recharging the bazooka, and continuing on with that work, it is desirable to fill corner boxes with drywall mud for use in filling in and leveling and smoothing out inside right angle corners and in covering the tape strip previously applied thereover with the bazooka.
A problem encountered with such filling systems for drywall mud applicator devices is that, once the bazooka has been filled, it is necessary to disconnect the gooseneck from the pump in order to attach a corner box adapter to pump discharge port for filling of the corner box. In order to fill the flat box, a so-called T-adapter must be inserted into the corner box adapter now on the pump discharge port. After filling the corner box and/or the flat box as necessary, the corner box adapter must then be removed from the pump discharge port and the gooseneck must be reattached in order to thereafter refill the bazooka.
The successive breaking down and modifying of the prior art system to alternately accommodate the bazooka for filling and, then, the flat and corner boxes for filling is both time consuming and messy. Indeed, it would be desirable to have a system for supplying drywall mud to fill the bazooka and, then, the flat and corner boxes without having to continually remove and replace the gooseneck and corner box adapter.
By means of our invention, these and other difficulties encountered using prior art systems for alternately filling bazooka and box type drywall mud applicator devices is substantially eliminated.
It is an object of our invention to provide a system for supplying drywall mud in a viscous, semi-liquid state from a container for alternately filling at least two different types of drywall mud applicator devices.
It is a further object of our invention to provide such a system that permits the alternate filling of bazooka and box type drywall mud applicator devices without the necessity of removing and reinstalling a gooseneck tube and corner box adapter from and in the system.
It is another object of our invention to provide a two-way diverter valve for handling mud when in a viscous, semi-liquid state ready for application to seams and to taped seams between adjacently disposed drywall panels.
Briefly, in accordance with our invention, there is provided a system for supplying drywall mud in a viscous, semi-liquid state from a container for alternately filling at least two different types of drywall mud applicator devices. The system includes a pump adapted for placement at least partially within a quantity of drywall mud disposed in a container for pumping the drywall mud from the container to a drywall mud applicator device. The system further includes a diverter valve adapted for handling drywall mud including a housing, an inlet port connected to a discharge port of the pump, and at least two outlet ports which are alternately switchable into and out of communication with the valve inlet port. Each of the valve outlet ports is adapted for communication with a different type of drywall mud applicator device for alternately filling each said device.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description and attached drawings upon which, by way of example, only a preferred embodiment of our invention is illustrated.